Friday, July 25, 2008

Nostalgia Friday: ISGC

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For the next week, I will be focusing entirely on the research and writing of my research proposal, the final paper for my qualitative research methods class. Today, I've been looking through Robert D. Putnam's "Bowling Alone," which talks about how Americans are gradually becoming more disconnected from one another and the implications this has. The primary theoretical basis of the book deals with a concept called "social capital." Boiled way down, social capital is what you and a group reap from you being part of a group and the group helps the individual socialize.

This has me thinking about my choir back in Boston, the Inner Strength Gospel Choir at Boston University. Not only because my Masters project was inspired by my time with the choir, but also because the choir is the source of a lot of many people's social capital. Neither the choir nor its members are the same with the other lacking. This becomes even more apparent during "Tour," when the choir goes on the road to Baltimore or Detroit or Oakland to sing and do a service project or two and grow closer to one another.

I only went on one tour in my tenure with the choir, to Baltimore in the Spring of 2007. I roomed with my already good friend Paloma and we both got sick on the day that half the choir decided to fall ill. We spent the day in our room, being crabby, snot-filled messes, but in seeing each other at our worst, we actually grew closer (and always have something to laugh about).

This shot, which has always been my favorite from the trip, is from the day after we were sick (everyone who had been ill (flu, food poisoning) miraculously recovered), early in the morning as Paloma ironed her skirt in preparation for the first of two concerts that day. That Sunday was joy-filled - full of smiles and song - and our evening concert was definitely the best of the tour. We bonded as a choir and as friends; the semester-end concert two months later still sustained the close-knit energy sparked on tour.

Meet Danielle

Danielle is a senior in high school who is an avid dancer and who also has diabetes. Sometimes, she dances to lower her blood sugar, but at times the fatigue brought on by the disease keeps her on the sidelines. Despite this, she still dances on an elite level and is part of a nationally recognized dance team.


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Sunday, July 6, 2008

Meet the view from the Cherry Street Garage

I came out of an assignment last Saturday evening to a sky full of magnificent clouds and the setting sun. After running back to my apartment to grab an extra lens, I barely made it to the top of the parking garage at 10th and Cherry to try to get some shots. I didn't get the best of the light on camera, but I still got to see it and enjoy it. Turns out I wasn't the only person enjoying the view. On a nearby garage, a couple alternated between watching the clouds float away and slow-dancing. I think this first shot is cute, though it may touch on being a bit stalkerish...but I still like it.

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[ contrast was boosted on this photo ]

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Meet some contest results

I finally entered the SportsShooter Week's Work Student Contest for the month of May and won second place! Check it out:

http://www.sportsshooter.com/student_portfolio/index_new.html

Meet the Show-Me State Senior Games

I shot a few events of the Show-Me State Senior Games a few weekends ago, including darts (which was set up in a hallway and didn't really work on a set schedule, plus it was tough to get a good shot without putting my eyes in harm's way) and 3-3 basketball. There was only one women's team, so they automatically won gold, but they managed to schedule a few games with some men's teams. There was good camaraderie between the two teams and I like how I caught that in the third photo. The woman was joking that she was holding his jersey to make sure the guy wouldn't cheat, which I found delightfully reminiscent of elementary school.

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[ Did someone get caught looking? ]

Meet "Skull School"

I needed to find an enterprise story for the Missourian the other day, so I called a friend I met through an assignment for my Fundamentals class and followed him around while he gave kids a tour of the Natural Resources Building. I had a tough time working the situation, but I liked the faces in first one and the light in the second one.

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